Menu Manager

[Max P]

Hi

This is the first time I have ever used a CMS. I chose CMSms due to its ease of installation and excellent interface. However, I cannot get ot grips with the menu manager at all! I'm normally no dumbie but I'm finding this really hard and I'm pretty much at the end of my deadline. I have set the site up on a test server here:

www.i-dl.com/pmc

I can get my own CSS and HXTML in there, but the menus are driving me nuts. There seems to be some conflict in the docs and the other help boards and I think this is what has caused my confusion. Basically, I need a horizontal menu at the top and a vertical one on the left, but not on every page. Is there a step by step guide through adding the menu?
And, can I go back to using my insted of . I prefer using block displays and floats to unordered lists.

Also, is it easy to embed my existing php contact form?

I can tackle pretty much anything in XHTML and CSS but this menu is just eluding me. I've been looking at this for six hours now and I'm having a break before my head explodes.

[calguy1000]

Simple rule #1.... NEVER use ANY Package (I don't care if it's word), that you don't know anything about if you have a deadline.  You need time to learn. 

So, either go back to static pages, or get rid of your deadline.

[Vin]

Well, it seems that the fact the menus are made with Smarty template engine is not very emphasized (that is, all templates in cmsms depends on smarty, just the content templates are much more straightforward). Basically, these menu templates are little 'scripts', not so complex such as php, with html like syntax.

To bring more light on these templates -

• {if $count > 0}...{/if} tags contain the condition what to do if there actually are some page sections (page sections  in the menu, which is usually the instructions for creating the menu.
• {foreach from=$nodelist item=node}...{/foreach} enclose some instructions applied to items (page sections actually, which are later called nodes) from nodelist variable, which is the list of page sections

Now, you can omit the ul/li, and delete all the conditional tags that enclose in sample templates. As for the menus, could you be a little more exact on what you really want? That is, should there be one main menu, which may have a section with a page which  (1) has some 'children' (and then the submenu should appear), or (2)the section with the 'children' hasn't actually its own page and just leads to its first child? (I hope its understandable ). In both cases, you'll need two templates for inclusion in the page template.
Check also the online help (the (?) above the menumanager), and the menumanager in User Handbook. (the second (?))
In Handbook, the templates that may interest you is header_link_to_child (which is appropriate for (2)).

It sounds difficult, but it is also very flexible...

[Max P]

Thanks for the prompt response from both calguy1000 and Vin. I have started to get to grips with the menu system a little more now. I am not used to breaking down my css into so many modules; but I see that this can be a benefit with this type of cms. I must admit, before encountering cmsms, I had no idea that Smarty code existed (great! I was starting to get used to php and there's still more to learn).
If I was to learn some of the smarty syntax maybe this would help me with the menu system, though I suspect that I am overcomplicating matters and the whole thing can be resolved with css.
Thanks for the technical approach Vin, and yes, calguy1000, that deadline will have to be stretched!

[Vin]

I must admit, before encountering cmsms, I had no idea that Smarty code existed (great! I was starting to get used to php and there's still more to learn).
If I was to learn some of the smarty syntax maybe this would help me with the menu system, though I suspect that I am overcomplicating matters and the whole thing can be resolved with css.

Starting to get used to php? Great, because then the learning curve is not so steep. Really.

You may be interested in this topic: http://forum.cmsmadesimple.org/index.php/topic,8441.msg53689.html#msg53689

If you don't understand some tags or attributes of smarty and you didn't find help in CMSMS help and docs, you can look into their docs at http://smarty.php.net/docs.php
MenuManager is great if you have to manage a lot of pages -> menu links. And when the hierarchy gets heavier, it is not very comfortable to do the menu links by hand. Depends on how many pages you have, and depends on how often the structure of the site changes. My site is going to change a lot during the time, so I rely on MenuManager.

[calguy1000]

Once you get to know the fact that menumanager genereates its output from the page hierarchy, and is only limited by the parameters on the {menu...} tag. and it's output is controlled by the template you'll realize there is quite a bit of flexibility there.  Though the default menumanager templates are ugly.... they do work, and provide alot of flexibility.  Once you've got your menu calls setup, the menumanager allows you to create, edit, re-order, and delete pages without having to modify the template each time.  That is significant flexibility.

The parameters on the menu tag allow you to easily control what is displayed, as well there are numerous UDT's and other little tips floating around the forum that make the menumanager even more flexible.

You still however, have to consider your style, and how things might break when adding/deleting pages.... like (would the top horizontal menu wrap if I added another top level item, for example).

It is worth your time to learn this stuff. once you realize the power of smarty (btw.... check out http://smarty.php.net/manual/enas well) and realize that ALL of the templates in cms made simple use smarty, there is an order of magnitude more power at your figertips.